


The Tunnel

by unwillingadventurer



Category: Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-27
Updated: 2018-04-27
Packaged: 2019-04-28 15:37:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14452353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unwillingadventurer/pseuds/unwillingadventurer
Summary: Realising the Doctor has escaped the monastery through a secret tunnel, Steven and Vicki set off after him.





	The Tunnel

**Author's Note:**

> An imagined scene from 'The Time Meddler'.

The secret tunnel was as dark as expected when Steven and Vicki crawled inside, but they had no choice but to continue- they had to find their way out of the monastery and get back to the Doctor. It was a good job Vicki had found the secret passage, she just hoped it would lead them to the right place and not into more danger.

“Ugh, I just put my hand in something!” Vicki said grimacing and wiping her hand on her cloak. She could barely see in front of her but she could feel the damp sludgy mud and could sense the twigs tangling in her hair as she passed underneath low hanging branches.

Steven wasn’t listening and had shuffled past her at a much quicker speed, wriggling like a worm through the cramped space. “I’m just shocked the Doctor managed this.”

“He may look like a weak old man but you’d be surprised. You don’t know him well yet. I once saw him fight off an assassin in Ancient Rome.”

Steven glanced behind him but couldn’t make out her expression to see if she was teasing him. Was the Doctor really capable of such things? What he’d seen so far proved he was a great adventurer but a time traveller? A fighter? He wasn’t convinced. 

“You don’t believe me, do you?” 

It was as though she had read his mind. 

“No not that I don’t believe it as such, Vicki, just trying to imagine it. I mean this is the Doctor we’re talking about, I’m not sure he even knows what he’s doing half the time.”

Vicki laughed. “Well that’s true but he seems to manage to find a way out of the trickiest situations. Sometimes I don’t know whether he’s just really clever or really lucky.”

“Well I don’t know, but it was lucky for me that I found you and the Doctor. I was starting to think I’d never meet another soul.”

He stopped still, taking a moment to breathe and think about all that had happened in the last couple of days; It’d certainly been eventful. He just hoped Hi-Fi was alright on his own back in the TARDIS. He was not used to being parted from his mascot and part of him felt lost without the cuddly soft toy he’d grown accustomed to. 

Vicki, not being able to see Steven clearly in the darkness, crashed into him forcefully from the side, their shoulders colliding and their bodies momentarily tangling.

“Ouch!” they both cried out as they freed themselves and rubbed their painful shoulders. 

“Watch where you’re going!” Steven moaned.

“What did you stop for?”

“Sorry, was just thinking.” He sighed and then continued on, feeling the mud underneath his fingers and on his knees as he crawled along. 

“I feel like a mole,” Vicki said as she started again at the same pace as Steven, “or one of those escapees from a prisoner of war camp.”

“And if that had been an option on Mechanus I’d have tried it!”

“Of course a mole would like being in here whereas I can’t wait to get out.”

“Don’t tell me you’re scared of the dark now as well as heights?”

Steven felt a sharp punch from Vicki’s fist as it made contact with his leg. 

“Of course not! I just prefer to be out in the open where I can see.”

“Believe me, I feel quite the same. Two years held captive does make you crave a little open space.”

She didn’t know what to say. They’d both suffered greatly before they met the Doctor and both had seen crashed ships and devastation. She too had known what it was like to feel alone on a strange planet and yet she couldn’t talk about it with him. It was too soon. She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she hadn’t even felt the vines in her path and she cried out as her foot became wedged between two of them. “I’m stuck!” she said with irritation.

Steven sighed. “How did that happen?”

Vicki clenched her teeth. “Well I wasn’t able to see, Steven, and my foot didn’t know the vines were there obviously.”

“Alright, alright, hold on, let me help.”

He felt around him and found Vicki’s leg behind him and sure enough it was stuck between two fat crusty vines. He tugged at her foot and tried to wrench it free but he merely pulled her shoe away instead. He then tried again but to no avail. 

“Ouch! Do you mind?”

“Do you want it released or not?”

“Yes, but still connected to my leg, thank you.”

Steven sighed and for a few moments Vicki could hear him shuffling about.

“What are you doing?”

“Trying to find my penknife and cut you free.”

“You’re not using a knife in the dark. You’ll cut my foot off!”

“I can tell the difference between a vine and your foot, have some faith in me. I know we haven’t known each other long but I have no desire to hurt you. I’m rather fond of you actually for some strange reason.”

There was a moment’s pause before Steven felt her arms around his waist in a bear hug and she was squeezing tightly. 

“Oh Steven, how sweet. I’m fond of you too. I’ve never had a big brother.”

“What about Ian?”

“Ian was lovely, but not a brother, more a…”

“Father?” 

She laughed. “I was going to say uncle but perhaps. I mean he was old enough!”

Steven suddenly felt embarrassed and was glad she couldn’t see his flushed cheeks. He hadn’t been close to anyone in such a long time that he felt vulnerable and strange. He patted her on the back gently but remained rigid.

“Yes, well if you could let go so I can cut you free,” he said, pushing her away.

Vicki obliged and buried her face in her cloak as she waited for the knife to cut into the vines and release her. The vine was strong and rough and she could hear the crunching of the plant as Steven hacked away at it.

“Its tougher than it feels,” he said.

Within moments however she was free, her shoe was returned and they could resume their crawl, this time side by side with Steven using his arm in front of him to make sure there was no further obstructions. 

Then they were quiet again and the only sound was the squelching of the mud beneath them and a drop of water coming from somewhere. Even worse there was a scurrying noise which Steven was convinced was a rat. Vicki couldn’t stand it. She had to speak and banish away the horrible noises as well as the persistent feeling that some horrible insect was crawling over her head. 

“Of course, if you travel with us longer you’ll get used to crawling through tight spaces and running along corridors,” she said.

“If?” Steven’s voice rose in surprise. “So, I’m not coming with you if we get out of this tunnel?”

“Well if you pass the test.”

“Now I don’t know if you’re serious or not.”

“Well as senior companion, it’s my job to take care of new passengers and see if they’re adequate.”

Steven laughed. “Oh yes, I’m sure that’s what you do. And did Ian and Barbara as senior companions send you off for an exam?”

“They didn’t need to bother, they knew I’d pass.”

Steven guffawed with laughter and gave her a gentle shove. “Just keep moving. More crawling and less talking!”

“Grumbling about it won’t get us there quicker. Besides my legs are much shorter than yours so you can’t expect me to be as fast as you.”

“We’re alright, at this pace we should be there soon and hopefully find the Doctor.”

Vicki shuffled closer to him, nudging him with her shoulder. “Don’t worry, I think you’ll pass!”

“Oh you do?”

“Yes. I mean, you’ve still got a bit of work to do and you don’t believe the TARDIS is a time machine, but you’re a space pilot so that could come in handy.”

“Well I’m glad you approve of something. Come on, let’s get out of here and then we’ll talk about time machines and whether I’m good enough for you and the Doctor.”

They both laughed as they made their way toward the light.


End file.
